


The Unexpected Life

by DarknessAroundUs



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe, In-Laws, Jason and Jughead friendship, POV Outsider
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-28
Updated: 2019-01-28
Packaged: 2019-10-18 09:55:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17578670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarknessAroundUs/pseuds/DarknessAroundUs
Summary: Jason finds it strange to shake the hand of someone for the first time after slamming them into lockers for years. But with Alice, Hal, Betty, and Polly watching, Jason extends his hand, and Jughead shakes it.They introduce themselves even though they already know each others names. For the last five years Jason’s fist has been meeting Jughead’s face and Jughead’s stomach at regular intervals. A fact that Jughead’s girlfriend Betty surely knows. She stands a little behind her boyfriend, her lips pressed together firmly. Jason feels judged and found wanting, but he tries not to let it show.ORJason and Jughead have a common enemy, Alice Cooper.





	The Unexpected Life

**Author's Note:**

> I got this idea after reading Remember to Ignore Your Heart by Making it Work. I love this story, and in it there is a line about Jason and Jughead bonding over their mutual hatred of Alice. I wanted to know more. 
> 
> This story is set in a different universe than Remember to Ignore Your Heart and they are very different stories. In this AU, the Blossoms and the Coopers are not rivals or relations. Jason is very clearly alive and Alice is still very clearly Alice. 
> 
> In the beginning Betty and Jughead are in Sophomore year, and Jason and Polly are Seniors. There is no Cheryl, maybe he absorbed her in the womb.
> 
> While Bughead is paired throughout this and so are Jason and Polly (do they have a ship name? Jolly, maybe?), this is primarily about Jughead and Jason’s friendship, which like everything else is defined by their relationship to the Cooper girls.

Jason finds it strange to shake the hand of someone for the first time after slamming them into lockers for years. But with Alice, Hal, Betty, and Polly watching, Jason extends his hand, and Jughead shakes it. 

They introduce themselves even though they already know each others names. For the last five years Jason’s fist has been meeting Jughead’s face and Jughead’s stomach at regular intervals. A fact that Jughead’s girlfriend Betty surely knows. She stands a little behind her boyfriend, her lips pressed together firmly. Jason feels judged and found wanting, but he tries not to let it show.

Polly, Jason’s girlfriend and Betty’s sister, is oblivious to the situation. She’s smiling and chatting with her father about the pumpkin they plan to carve for halloween. She looks softly beautiful, as she always does to Jason

Jason feels a little terrible about how oblivious Polly is in terms of his past. She has no idea how many girls he’s slept with at Riverdale High. She also has no idea how many boys he bullied. Jughead was far from the only one. 

Alice seems none the wiser, smiling at both boys with a tight lipped grin that could turn into a scowl at any moment. Hal is preoccupied with his daughters, ignoring their boyfriends in a way that implied that they were just fleeting passions. Jason would normally embrace that attitude. He was usually a casual dater, if you could even call what he did dating, but Polly was different. 

When he was with Polly, he was a better person. He actually cared for her. At first he hated that, but now he was starting to understand the appeal of it. When Jason laughed at her jokes he wasn’t faking it. When he whispered “I’ll miss you,” into her ear, no manipulation was intended. 

“Come inside boys.” Alice said sharply. ”Dinner is ready to eat.”

Going inside is like visiting a movie set, every object is its place. There is not a speck of dirt anywhere. 

Jason has never been inside before. Polly and he have largely spent time together in his car, his bedroom, his pool house. Alice was strict, not the sort of parent who permitted boys in her daughters’ rooms, even with the door open, so instead they went elsewhere. 

Alice was notorious for her moral judgments, her stuck up nose, and her flawlessly applied makeup. Of all the adults in town, Alice was probably the one that scared Jason the most. Neither of his parents could be described as soft or cuddly, but they were mostly largely absent. Caught up in business or themselves. Alice had beady eyes that darted everywhere.

When they sat down, Jason rested his hand on Polly’s thigh. Alice spotted it immediately. The scowl she sent him was so powerful he removed the offending hand from Polly’s leg and sat on it instead. 

Alice makes them pray before eating. Jason is surprised to discover that Jughead is the only other person who keeps his eyes open during the prayer. Jughead refuses to meet his gaze. 

During the meal Jason feels like he’s being interrogated. His parents ask less questions about his grades and classes than Alice. Jughead looks equally as uncomfortable when he is quized. Jason can’t help but feel a little bad for the teen. He’s almost two years younger than Jason. Jason doesn’t know if he could put up with this even a year ago. 

Jughead doesn’t seem to mind too much. It helps that Betty, clever as always, has his back. She is an excellent conversation changer, a skilled manipulator of the tone of the room. Where as Polly doesn’t intervene, she’s happy to sit and pick at her food.

Jason has been dating Polly for six months now, but their dating had started out as hooking up, and only recently shifted to something exclusive, because of that, this was his first time officially meeting her parents. 

Jughead was Betty’s childhood friend, so even though they only recently started dating, he was more comfortable around the house, although he too was leery of Alice. Jughead helped Betty clear the table and clean the dishes, while Polly and Jason sat stiffly as Hal harped on about the importance of the death sentence.

At the end of the evening Alice Cooper serves Jason and Jughead equally enormous slices of cake, then she cuts tiny slivers, for Betty and Polly. Jason doesn’t know how to react but he watches as Jughead cuts a third off his slice and slides it onto Betty’s plate without comment. He can’t help but admire the younger boy for that.

Two months later while Jason is dropping Polly off at her house, he notices a ladder leaning against the side of the Cooper house, conveniently close to Polly’s window.

Polly squeals with delight when he points it out. Jason doesn’t take advantage of it that night, but two days later he moves it over to Polly’s window, and climbs up to meet his lover.

It is Jason’s first time seeing Polly’s bedroom, an uninspiring pink room with a large mirror, and the first time spending the night in Polly’s bed.

Although he doesn’t get to sleep the whole night, at four in the morning persistent knocking wakes Polly, who wakes Jason by shaking him soundly, she whisper-shouts that he has to hide under the bed. Through the small gap between floor and comforter cover, Jason watches Polly open the door.

But instead of revealing Alice or Hal, Betty and Jughead are standing in the hall. Betty is wearing star pajamas, Jughead is wearing pants and his S t-shirt.

Jason gets out from under the remarkably dust free bed, Betty startles and covers her mouth, when she sees him, Jughead doesn’t flinch.

“Your boyfriend stole my damn ladder,” Jughead says looking at Polly.

“Sorry.” Polly says, with a soft look on her face. “We didn’t realize anyone was using it.” 

“I’ve been using it for years.” Jughed says. Betty slaps him lightly, when an appalled look crosses Polly’s face, Jughead then elaborates, “Even when we were just friends Alice was scary, and it seemed safer to avoid her.”

“I didn’t know that it was your ladder,” Jason shrugs, “but now that I know about it, I can’t stop using it.”

Jughead looks pissed. “Why not?”

“Why should you get to visit your girlfriend while I am denied that right?” 

“Because I’ve been using the ladder since before you ever dated your girlfriend. You have no right!”

“If you ban me from the ladder, I will tell Alice about it. Mutually assured destruction.” Jason says, feeling a little smug. 

“No one wants my mom to wake up.” Betty says “You both have to go. Sort it out tomorrow.”

“Ok.” Jughead says with a nod, although he still looks pissed. 

Jughead kisses Betty on the forehead and climbs out the window. Betty leaves the room. Polly starts laughing while Jason gets dressed.

“What’s so funny?” He asks. 

“Just all of this sneaking around.” He can’t help but laugh too.

“Next year babe, we will be in college and we don’t have to do any of this.” Jason surprises himself a little by his confidence. By his promises of a future together. It is so unlike him. Polly just smiles and nods as if it is no big deal. 

The next day at school Jason finds himself saying “hi” to Jughead. Jughead looks behind him, as if to verify that Jason is actually saying hi to him, as if now, even though they’re dating sisters, he could still slam him into a locker at any moment.

They sort out the custody of the ladder. Jason gets three nights a week and Jughead gets four. The rest of the year progresses as expected - awkward dinners with Alice and Hal once a month, occasional skirmishes regarding who really needs the ladder that night, and school. 

Because of the forced family dinners, Jason gets to know Jughead and Betty a bit. He discovers that Jughead commonly answers Alice’s direct questions with quips and Betty with answers that seem pre-approved by Alice.

Jason notices that at Alice’s house Betty and Jughead don’t hold hands, but at school they do. They spend time cuddling and talking in the student lounge with their friends, or working at the dusty newspaper office that Polly insists on visiting with him, every so often.

One night Jason is in the locker room late after football practice, and Jughead enters and asks “Are you the only one here?”

Jason nods, he’s almost ready to go actually. All he needs to do is put on a shirt, which is a good thing, because Jughead goes back out into the school for a second and comes back with Betty. 

“This is the boy’s locker room.” Jason says and Betty just rolls her eyes and walks past him. Jughead follows her. 

Betty tries the door on Coach Claytons office before pulling a bobby pin out of her hair and putting it into the lock.

“You can’t actually pick a lock that way.” Jason says, but as soon as he completes the sentence, his statement has been proven false. 

Betty enters the office first, but only after slipping on a pair of disposable rubber gloves. The kind Jason associates with a doctor's office. Jughead follows her in after shrugging on his own pair.

“You can’t do that.” Jason shouts as the door swings shut. There is no response and he can hear them shuffling around in there. 

He pulls his shirt on before shoving on his shoes. He’s just shrugging on his backpack when Betty and Jughead exit the office. Neither look as if they are carrying anything new. They walk past him, Betty offering a polite wave as if they didn’t just break and enter in front of him.

Jason’s about to say something, when Jughead glances back, and says “Mutually assured destruction.”  
The door slams shut. 

Jason doesn’t wonder what they were up to for long. Two days later the Blue and Gold releases information about how Coach Clayton was covering up his son’s crimes against women by buying evidence off the women involved using money he stole from the school. It is such a scandal that it makes the front page of The Riverdale Register a day later. 

That led to one of the tensest dinners yet, at least for Betty and Jughead. When Alice started shouting at them for not sharing the information in a timely manner, Hal slipped Polly and Jason thirty dollars and told them to go to Pop’s. 

Jason doesn’t know whether he should admire Betty and Jughead or be intimidated by them. He certainly can’t dismiss them like he used to. Sometimes they seem so much older than he and Polly, so much more serious. But he reminds himself that it only some trick of the light. They’re only sophomores after all. 

One afternoon, in his car, he admits to Polly that he’s a little scared of Betty and Jughead. Polly laughs. She’s relaxed against him. They aren't driving, but at a lookout, watching Sweetwater river pass below them. Her lipstick is smudged. He loves her like this. A little messy, but relaxed, beautiful.

“They’re just kids. How can you be scared of them?” She asks. Then after a moment has passed and Jason is still silent, she adds. “Plus Betty’s the nicest person I know.”

“She can pick a lock.” Jason says. 

“Of course she can.” Polly says. “But it’s not like she would be mean about it. 

Jason drops the subject. They spend the rest of the lazy spring afternoon talking about football, cheerleading, and all of their friends, about to scatter across the country for college.

Jason and Polly go off to university together, they both get into Providence College, so that is where they go. It is far enough away from Riverdale that Alice and Hal can’t possibly drop by. Now they don’t have to worry about Alice anymore except during the holidays. Jason is grateful for the change of pace, for the no longer required family dinners. 

It is easy to be with Polly. They still keep up the appearance of having separate places, but they mostly stay at his roomate free one bedroom. College is easier than Jason expected, and they have plenty of time for long drives, afternoon walks, and quiet time spent together. 

The summer before sophomore year, Polly and Jason both get jobs in Riverdale. Jason’s job involves training with his father. Polly becomes a waitress at Pop’s.

The summer is tense. Hal and Alice are fighting. Alice is not happy with all of Polly’s grades. Betty and Jughead are caught up in something involving the Southside that Jason doesn’t even bother keeping track of. Alice is also mad at Jason for not pursuing football, which seems strange to him. But she’s in such a generally foul mood, he tries not to interact with her.

The ladder is gone. No one talks about it. Polly spends three nights a week at Thornhill and leaves in the early hours of the morning. Jason only sees Betty and Jughead at the forced family dinners, but they seem fine. A little tougher, but always holding hands now.

Jason is relieved when they return to Providence. Polly also seems lighter, more carefree. It isn’t till late fall that the shit hits the fan, or rather the sperm fertilizes the egg and it isn’t till early spring, when Polly is all but showing, that Jason finds out about it. Polly hadn’t even figured it out herself for months. 

He’s furious at first, saying every terrible word he knows. Over the course of a week he comes around. He places his hand on Polly’s slightly rounded belly and tries to imagine what their kid looks like inside of her. According to his app it’s already larger than a banana. At the grocery store that evening he can’t help but notice the wide range of sizes a banana can be.

Even living a six hour drive from Riverdale, he dreads the wrath of Alice Cooper. Polly seems equally concerned. With spring break fast approaching and their return to Riverdale imminent, Polly seems to be a ball of anxiety and despair. The pregnancy hormones aren't helping.

Jason comes up with an idea. He invites Betty up for the weekend to tell her about the pregnancy. If anyone is able to comfort Polly, it is Betty.

Jason picks Betty up from the train. He shouldn’t be surprised to see Jughead standing besides her, in a weather inappropriate sherpa jacket, but he is. 

“Betty.” he says before offering a hug. “Jughead,” he nods. “How did you convince Alice and Hal to let you travel together?”

“We didn’t bother.” Betty says. “Archie dropped Jughead off at the train station after Riverdale’s and so my parents are none the wiser.”

He admires both of them for the way they seem to work around the pressure cooker of Alice. The way they slip past the cracks in her armor. He doesn’t think he could have put up with it any longer than he did. 

Polly greets them with tears in her eyes, large hugs, and then after a simple exchange of sentences, some belly rubs from an astonished Betty. 

Jason knows he did the right thing even before they eat dinner. Polly’s happier than she has been in months. Dancing around the apartment with Betty, talking about plans for the baby. Talking about names and doctors. 

This fills Jason with relief, but it’s only temporary. He’s given himself another challenge that weekend. He has Nana Blossoms ring burning a hole in his pocket. He wants to ask Polly while the others are there, if there are witnesses he is less likely to bow out. 

He keeps patting the pocket that holds the square box containing the ring. He can’t help himself. It feels good to know that he has it, but also awful. He keeps waiting for one of those feelings to fade, or the other to get stronger, but the feel perfectly balanced, like weights on a scale. 

The dinner conversation is light. They all suggest the worst possible baby names they can think of. Jason is surprised when Jughead suggests Forsythe, when the name Jughead is clearly worse. Betty suggests Enid, and Polly mentions Bertha. 

Afterwards Jughead stands up and says. “I’m going to have a smoke and a walk. Anyone want to join me?” He looks pointedly at Jason, although he really didn’t need to. Jason is eager to get out, move his legs. 

As nice as it is to tell someone about their situation, he’s feeling pretty claustrophobic with so many people in their one bedroom. Polly still paid rent in a shared home for Alice’s sake, but she hadn’t slept there in months.

“Sure.” Jason says, standing up.

“No smoking.” Polly says in an Alice Cooper like voice. Jason nods. He’s not much of a cigarette fan anyway. “How can you stand kissing someone who smells like smoke Betty?”

Betty shrugs “It’s all I’ve never known.”

Jason shrugs on his coat and follows Jughead out of the house. He turns down the cigarette Jughead half heartedly offers, and then they start walking. 

“You shouldn’t propose.” Jughead says, before they’ve even made it a block. Jason nearly jumps with the shock of it.

“How did you know I was going to?”

“I couldn’t think of any other reason you would keep feeling up a square box in your pants pocket.

“Shit.” Had he been that obvious? “Do you think Polly noticed?”

“No. She’s got other things on her mind.” Jughead says, exhaling smoke. “But you shouldn’t ask her now. You and she will always wonder if you just got married because the baby. It’s 2019. You’re adults. Just wait it out. It will make your marriage a lot better, if you do eventually go that route.”

“How’d you get so wise?” Jason asks, looking skeptically at the teenager beside him. He was not having thoughts like that in high school.

“I was the reason my parents got married. It wasn’t a good idea for them, or for me.” Jughead says shaking his head. 

“I’ll think about it.” Jason says, although he already feels a little relieved. “I thought it might help get Alice off my back.”

“Definitely don’t get married for Alice’s sake.” Jughead says with a laugh. “Besides, I have some information for you that might help with that.”

“Oh?” 

“Consider it an early baby gift from Betty and I. Alice and Hal had a child at 16.”

“What the fuck?” Jason stops dead in his tracks. Partially from shock, partially because he can’t help but feel a little excited about the gossipy nature of this news. 

It also suddenly makes sense that she was so strict with her daughters, so that history wouldn’t repeat itself. 

“They gave him up for adoption. We thought you might want to bring that up with Alice if she got too mad at you. After all Polly hasn’t been 16 for years.” Jughead has a smirk on his face. Jason feels like hugging the guy. 

“How did you find out?” 

“Sleuthing.” Jughead says with a shrug. “To be perfectly honest this isn’t the only information we’ve uncovered to blackmail Alice with.”

“What else did you figure out?” Jason asks, although clearly nothing could be this level of scandalous. 

“We are reserving that for our own purposes.” Jughead says, smugly.

“Wait, Betty’s not….” Jason trails off. 

“Hell no.” Jughead says. “Completely different purposes.” Jughead finishes his cigarette. 

“Thank you for helping us.” Jason says, and he’s surprised how much he really means it. It has really helped that the first people they’ve told have been so supportive. He knows his parents won’t be mad (they’ve always wanted more than one heir), but he also knows that while they might throw money at the effort, they are not about to help out. Jughead and Betty have helped already.

Jughead nods as they start to walk back towards the apartment. 

Two years ago when Jason was still slamming Jughead into lockers on a regular basis, he had always sort of dismissed Jughead. He didn’t pummel him because he hated Jughead, it was more of an easy target situation. Jughead was a little strange. His clothes never fit right, and he always wore some variation on the same outfit. 

But now he knew that Jughead was smart, resourceful when he needed to be. It made Jason feel a little bad for a moment, but before he could say anything about it, a cute golden retriever walks by and distracts both boys. 

Two weeks later and they are all sitting around Alice’s table again. Jason and Polly already dropped the baby bomb the night before, and defused it slightly with the dirt on Alice and Hal, but things have been tense all day. 

Polly was barely talking to either of her parents. Jason has nothing more to say. Betty has been around but largely silent, and Jughead had just shown up 10 minutes earlier, and after greeting everyone, sat down for the prayer.

They were all tucking in when Alice loudly clears her throat and says, “Jason, when do you plan to propose to Polly?”

Silence falls over the whole table and then Betty says. “Mom and dad, Jughead and I have an announcement to make. We both got into Brown.” A pleased look covers Alice’s face instantly, as if she hasn’t even noticed the bait and switch. 

“Congratulations! That’s wonderful.”

“And it’s good because we can live close to Polly and Jason, so that we can help out with the baby.”

“Excuse me.” Alice says, her face turning red with anger. “A place singular? Surely after what happened with Polly and Jason you don’t expect me to let you move in together.”

“We always double up on protection.” Jughead says flippantly. In the moment, Jason can’t stop himself from laughing. 

Alice actually marches out of the dining room. Betty is laughing too, Polly joins in shortly after. Jughead is actually doubled over with it by the time Hal pushes back from the table, shouting “There is nothing funny about this,” in a way that just makes it funnier. 

Later just bringing up this particular dinner will make them laugh just as hard. It’s far from the only thing that bonds them though. When baby Ashley is born, Jughead and Betty are at the apartment so often helping out that Jason makes them each a copy of the keys. 

Every time that Jason is at his wits end, one of them intervenes in a subtle way. Sometimes it’s childcare, or a weird errand with Betty, sometimes it is homemade cookies, or a good cup of coffee. By the time Ashley is two and Alice is insisting on a fancy baptism it is clear who the godparents will be. 

As intertwined as their lives have come to be, Jughead and Betty are still mysterious and secretive in their own way. A fact Jason is reminded of when Betty signs the godmother paperwork as Betty Jones. 

“How long ago did this happen?” Polly asks in a tone that Jason recognizes as both excited and hurt. 

“Oh, just a few weeks.” Jughead says with a shrug.

Because of their secretiv-ness, Jason is sometimes a little unsure of how much Betty and Jughead like him. But he finds out five years later, when Betty and Jughead’s son Marcus is baptized, and he and Polly (who is now a Blossom thanks to an entirely over the top wedding ceremony) are asked to be the godparents. 

He never apologizes to Jughead directly for hurting him as a child, and then as a teenager, but when Marcus is bullied at school, Jason drops by and tells him all about how awful he was as a child to Marcus’s own dad, and how badly he still feels about it, even now that he considers Jughead to be his best friend.

When he leaves Marcus’s room, Jughead pulls him into a hug, and whispers “I forgave you a long time ago. It’s time to forgive yourself.”

That night Jason tells Polly about the whole darn situation, and Polly just laughs. “It’s not funny.” Jason protests. 

“It is. It is.”

Jason just shakes his head. Polly is always able to find the humor in everything, even past sins. It is no wonder that out of all the people in the world, he fell in love with her.

When Ashley turns 15 she falls in love. She can’t stop talking about Luke. Every other word at supper is Luke this and Luke that. At first Jason assumes it isn’t mutual and then driving home from work one day he passes a park. On a bench in it Ashley is kissing Luke. 

Before Jason can even think about what he is doing in an intellectual way, he’s parked the car and is storming across the street towards them shouting. He drags Ashley home in tears. 

Polly and he never fight, usually Polly just shrugs and smiles, but they fight about this. So he shoots Jughead a text and asks if he is up to getting a beer. He gets the predictable K back. 

Jason picks him up. They had all moved back to Riverdale a few years ago. Jason to take over the maple syrup empire. Jughead and Betty run a private investigations firm that is so successful they fly all over the country with it. Still their house is small and charming, everything Thornhill is not. Jason watches through the window as Jughead gives Betty a forehead kiss goodbye.

Soon Jason’s two drinks deep at the local hipster brewery and Jughead is still nursing the same beer. Jughead’s never been much for actual drinking although they go out like this a couple times a month. He likes talking. 

Tonight Jason is so angry. He keeps ranting about Ashley and her boyfriend and how she is far too young to be in love, and Jughead suddenly places his hand on Jason’s arm and says “I was 15 when Betty and I started dating.”

Jason shakes his head. “That’s entirely different.” 

“Why?” Jughead says, his hand tapping against his glass. 

“Because you guys have been married forever, you have a kid together, hell you even work together. I could not do that. You guys are like a whole different thing than Ashley and whatshisname.” Jason very much remembered his name.

“Now we are, but when we were 15 there was no way anyone could have known that, certainly not our parents. Do you want to be this generation's Alice?”

“Hell no, but I also don’t want a boy named Luke climbing a ladder to my 15 year olds room.” Jughead laughs. Jason continues. “But didn’t you know at 15 that you wanted to spend the rest of your life with Betty?”

Jughead meets his brother-in-laws gaze. “Yes. I mean I thought that when I was 12 and she made me cupcakes for the first time, but that didn’t mean it was pre-destined to happen. We had to work on it. We have to work at it.”

Jason just shakes his head. “Why won’t you just let me mad be at this boy?” He says taking another sip of beer. 

Jughead laughs. “I’m sure I will feel the same way in a few years.”

“I envy you those years.” 

Ashley and Luke split in a large fight that seems somehow to stretch over months. He is replaced by a series of boys that flit in and out of Ashey’s life so quickly that Jason does not even bother learning their names. 

For the first time in over twenty five years of friendship, Jason sees Jughead get drunk after Marcus proposes to his first girlfriend at nineteen. He’s ranting about how they’ve only been together for a year, that they are far too young to know anything about how the world actually works. 

“Didn’t you get married at twenty?” Jason asks 

“Shut up.” 

It feels like a full circle. One that is mostly filled with happiness, shared meals, and long talks. With Jughead, Jason has found a sibling he never knew he was missing.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments make me so very happy. I’ve never written something like this before, so i’m more than a little nervous.


End file.
